The rape scenes were absolutely gut churning, if anything i think the author does a really good job at shower how bad it is because in almost every sexual scene they make it so Taekyung says he doesnt want it (in some manner) atleast once. Its like a grim reminder that the only reason Taekyung is allowing it is to keep the peace and that he doesnt really want it. I can actually understand Taekyung a lot and the way his behaviour changes so rapidly whenever Heeseo assaults him feels very realistic to me. Its almost like as soon as its over his emotions just turn off and everything is ignored but as soon as Heeseo does it again its like reliving the traumatic experience. I had the exact same trauma response as Taekyung so it feels good to actually see it. Im not sure if the author intended to normalise or trivialise the sexual violence but if they did they somehow turned it into a pretty good depiction of how nonsensical the brain will be to avoid confronting trauma. Its either so bad its good or so good its annoying.
I agree with you and wasn’t very far off from that myself in terms of traumatic response - I think the seemingly cute tone of the scene at the prosecutor’s office really threw me off and gave a whole new turn to it, but that’s just my own interpretation. Your conclusion is on point, in any case we ARE upset due to the (very numerous, maybe one too many in such few chapters…) explicit rape scenes. Thank you for your insight!!
It’s crazy though because you want to feel bad for the guy by he’s just so emotionally manipulative. I had an ex like that who was like oh if you break up with me I’m gonna kill myself for like two years and finally I moved away and guess what it has been over 15 years and that bitch is still alive. I thought you couldn’t live without me sir?
You are strong Good job
It was probably just to give us a break from the madness thats about to come, a cute chapter is the foreshadowing for future insanity. Also, no problem, i enjoy having these sorts of discussions haha
I can’t explain it but somehow this webtoon made me feel so much more sick than others that are much more explicit or violent or gorey. Even the rape scenes described in Payback didn’t evoke such a knee jerk reaction, because these were vilified as they should be. The constant emotional blackmail as a consequence of the child neglect/abuse and dismissive emotional dynamics is one thing, but I guess what really got to me is the ensuing rape that’s being normalized here. Every sex scene, even the latest ones, made me want to vomit and I completely skipped them. I thought that it would be addressed when Taekyung first got mad and said he was forced, but it was just sweeped under the rug and became some sort of fucked up fwb situation. And it just happens more and more frequently and put out like it’s supposed to be cute or something.
Heeseo’s mental issues would definitely be understandable if it weren’t for his literal crimes (and I’m not talking about the arson lol), and his anxiety of being left alone is the one thing that’s actually being illustrated properly in the later chapters……
Anyway I’m really not trying to dunk on the webtoon - otherwise I wouldn’t’ve read it and I’m too old to be a hater - but I wonder if I’m the only one who was really impacted by the way this is plotted out and depicted.